Blogs, Weather & Produce

Do you ever click on the "Next Blog" feature at the top of Blogspot blogs? I did for the 1st time today, and the first 3 or 4 blogs that came up were not in English :) I wonder if that's an accurate sampling of what is out there on Blogspot.

The weather here has been awful - rainy, thunderstorms, etc., which is not conducive to exercise. In fact, it's supposed to rain Thursday & Friday. I did go for a run yesterday, probably about 3 miles, and a long walk today with Noodles & Bear, which was probably about 4.5-5 miles. Usually Noodles puckers out after 2-3 miles, but he kept going strong the whole time. I probably helped that he kept finding wet places to rub in, and I brought along some water for him.

I'm also getting back into the green smoothie habit after only having 3 or 4 last week. I even subjected my mother to some :) She actually seemed to like it! After we picked up my mom at the train on Saturday, we headed over to Haymarket, where they have a huge fruit & veggie open-air market on Fridays & Saturdays. None of it is organic, unfortunately, but is it ever cheap! Most of it is quite ripe, so you need to either freeze it or use it quickly. I stocked up on bananas (4 pounds for $1!) for making smoothies & ice cream, as well as sweet potatoes for Bear, lettuce (green leaf & romaine), apples, peaches, raspberries, blueberries & strawberries. We even splurged & got some of those yellow cherries at $1.50 a pound. Altogether, I only spent $17.50! I wish it were closer to home, as I'd go more often.

I've been quite cold lately. The temperature has been hovering in the low 70's, and my body doesn't know what to do with that. Right now, it's 75, and I'm wearing a hooded sweatshirt. My fingers are freezing & I'd make a cup of tea if Bear & I weren't upstairs.

Brrrrrr......isn't it supposed to be summer?

Good Day with Bear

I'm excited for the long weekend coming up!

This past weekend was sort of blah. A serious highlight was having 2 friends stop by with their new baby! But the rest - I'm just glad it's over :)

Bear & I had a great day today. I'm trying not to overanalyze as to why :) We played and ate and went for a run and went for 2 walks. I think I wore Noodles out; he's sprawled out on the floor now. I didn't make him go on the run, but I did take him on the 2 walks. I have to remind myself sometimes that he is 10 years old :)

In the green smoothie demo I posted a few weeks ago, Green Smoothie Girl said she gets 15 servings of fruits and veggies in her smoothie. I did a loose measurement today, and I only used 3-4 servings of greens, and 4-5 servings of fruit. I'm consulting with her blog to find out how she crams all that stuff in there. I know you're all on the edge of your seats with anticipation.

My Brain is Melting

I haven't blogged yet today because my brain is melting. Even after 32 ounces of green smoothie, I still can't think straight. I only walked about 2.5 miles today, quite slowly I might add. Though it's only hovering around 90 degrees, it's still too hot for me!

More Weather Talk

Bear is 10 months old today! My, how time flies :)

Yes, at some point, I'll stop talking about the weather, but it's hard not to think about it right now! It's frighteningly close to 100 degrees out. I did walk up to the post office & grocery store, which is a little over 2 miles round trip. It wiped me out! I'm probably not eating & drinking enough. I was able to put Bear down for a nap (his preferred napping spot is my lap), so I ran downstairs & made a green smoothie.

Today's Recipe
1/2 a large orange
1/2 a grapefruit
1/2 an apple (saving the other halves for tomorrow)
2/3 of a banana (Bear ate the other third for lunch)
10 cherries
1/3 cup of frozen blueberries
2/3 of a frozen peach
1 1/2 packets of stevia
2 spoons hemp protein powder
1 spoon rice protein powder
5-6 ice cubes
Handfuls of spinach, kale, broccoli, red & swiss chard, & collard greens
Water as needed

This made a lot of smoothie. I'm drinking 32 oz, and I gave our roommate probably 8-10 oz.

For those of you interested in green smoothie making, here's a video. No, I do not have the $400 blender, though I'd like one :) I have a regular old Target special; it just requires more patience. Notice that there is water in her blender, which she fails to mention in her demo. The first time I tried to make one, I was wondering why my smoothie wouldn't blend :) Enjoy!

Walking in the Heat

So I got this brilliant idea around 2 PM that we (Bear, Noodles & I) should go for a walk. The loop that I generally walk is 1.4-1.6 miles, depending on if I add a couple extra blocks at the end. After going the 1.6 mile loop, Bear started to fall asleep in the jogging stroller, so I decided to walk the loop again.

Bad idea.

First of all, it's over 95 degrees out with about 50% humidity. Second, I didn't bring any water for me & the dog (Bear doesn't generally drink water & he was well-hydrated). Third, did I mention it's hot?

Almost exactly halfway through the 2nd loop, Noodles decides to lay down on the a nice, shady, grassy knoll & not get up. Usually, if I pull on the leash, he'll eventually follow me, but pulling on his leash only made it so I was dragging him on the grass. After a few minutes of coaxing and a limp Noodles laying in the grass, I began to get concerned. Roy & I used to watch a lot of "Animal Cops" ("Detroit" was our favorite), and I remember that a dog's temperature is actually higher than a human's, so I stuck my finger in his mouth to feel his gums. He was cool, so then I picked him up to make sure he could stand. Yep, he could stand. I contemplated taking the baby out of the stroller and putting the dog in there, but that would mean I'd have to carry the baby home; plus, I couldn't really see Noodles fitting in there. After some more coaxing, Noodles begrudgingly walked home.

I need to remind myself that he almost never drinks water. When we got home from church yesterday, he'd barely touched his water, though it was close to 90 degrees in our house. Even today after we finally got home, he didn't have any water until I reminded him to get some, at which point he drank a bunch, and then kept going back for more drinks. I made myself a green smoothie with apple, grapefruit, banana, spinach, broccoli, blueberries, red chard, swiss chard & what I think was collard greens. Yum!

I've decided to weigh myself every week or two and see if that sits OK with my head (I used to have an eating disorder, so I have to be careful). I have lost 2 more pounds, again without trying. That's cool :) I've also made some progress on the book I'm writing. I figure even if I can only write a few paragraphs a week, I'll be done in a couple of years, and that's fine with me. I'm in no rush :)

Running!

I started running again this week. I hadn't been running in 2 years, so it was challenging. I had to stop running due to some problems with my hips, but since my hips aren't really improving or getting worse, I decided it was worth the risk. I took Bear out in the jogging stroller and he seemed to have a good time.

I ran 1.5 miles on Tuesday and then again today. I continued on today and did another 1.5 miles, partially walking and partially running.

I've been walking a lot lately anyways. The Bear seems to calm right down when I put him in the stroller and take him out. Plus, Noodles needs a daily walk, so I find myself averaging 3-5 miles a day of on-foot travel. I'm now down to about 7 pounds below what I weighed when I found out I was pregnant - less than I've weighed in about 2.5 years. And I'm not even trying to lose weight. That's a nice feeling :)